IDRC - Celebrating 25 Years
1993 - 2018
Master of Design in Inclusive Design
Supports for complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
How do I make my web site accessible? How do I make my office documents accessible? How do I make information available in alternative formats? Businesses and organizations read our AODA Help.
Newest Projects Announced
August 22, 2018
The IDRC has recently begun a number of new projects:
Designing Inclusive Cities (project website)
The IDRC is working with the Sidewalk Toronto team to help create accessibility and inclusion principles. Sidewalk Toronto is a joint effort between Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto to use smart technology and new construction techniques to develop a piece of land on Toronto’s eastern waterfront.
The IDRC aims to ensure that the Sidewalk Toronto team considers the wide and diverse range of people’s needs and preferences in the design and development of this piece of land. Different groups and communities are invited to participate in a co-design process it help define and envision an inclusive and accessible city.
CISL (funded by the the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs)
This project brings inclusive open education tools and knowledge from the FLOE Project to the newly-announced Center on Inclusive Software for Learning (CISL). Led by CAST, CISL will support the development of an open-source software suite, industry guidelines and supporting research to ensure K-12 students get engaging personalized learning through Open Education Resources.
Bodies in Translation (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada)
Bodies in Translation is a research project that creates collaborative partnerships between artists, arts organizations, activists, scholars, and educators. With the Canadian disability arts community, the IDRC is co-designing the project’s Knowledge Platform as well as new technologies to support inclusive artistic creation.
Platform Co-op
In collaboration with the Platform Co-op movement (https://platform.coop/), the goal of the project is to realize the full aspirations of Platform for Economic Inclusion. Together with Trebor Scholtz, the Platform Co-op Consortium and the New School, the IDRC will be developing a Platform Co-op Development Kit with the support of several foundations. The first implementation will be focused on care: childcare, attendant care and eldercare. “The work that makes all other work possible."
The Social Justice Repair Kit (with funding from the Oak Foundation) - http://sojustrepairit.org
The goal of this project is to
- help youth movements and social justice initiatives to become welcoming environments for youth with learning differences
- benefit from the advantages of inclusive design.
BIG IDeA (An Enabling Change Project with the Government of Ontario) – www.bigidea.one
BIG IDeA (Business Innovation Guide for Inclusion Design and Accessibility) brings together businesses, customers with lived experience of disability and designers to collaboratively advance accessibility innovation in Ontario and create a culture of accessibility and inclusion. We are:
- Collecting inclusion barriers and hosting design challenges to create inclusive alternatives
- Mapping accessibility of Ontario in our BIG IDeA mapathon (visit: https://tinyurl.com/kllbe44])
- Recognizing accessible businesses through customer reviews, showcases and badges
- Providing resources, training and help on inclusion and AODA compliance
Get involved, BIG IDeA is for everyone!
Our Doors are Open (An Enabling Change Project with the Government of Ontario) - http://opendoors.idrc.ocadu.ca
Our Doors Are Open: A Multi-Faith Welcome to Persons with Disabilities will develop good practices for inclusive community engagement by places of worship of all faiths across Ontario, and support them to achieve a culture of inclusion in services and community gatherings. Our Doors are Open will provide:
- training-materials and resources,
- community inclusion workshops
- train-the-trainer seminars
- accessibility assessments and guidance on digital communications
- accessibility mapathon kits to help you build awareness in your congregation
Latest News
Oak Foundation: Social Justice Repair Kit
February 3, 2017
We are excited to announce that the IDRC has received a grant from the Oak Foundation's Learning Differences Programme.
With funding from Oak, the IDRC is helping leaders of social justice-related activities by and for youth around the globe authentically engage diverse learners. Youth-led social justice movements can be empowering experiences that build connection to community, self-confidence, and a more positive mindset within marginalized populations. However, social justice initiatives are not always designed to accommodate diverse learners, who are over-represented within marginalized populations. If these initiatives are designed inclusively, with the appropriate scaffolding and accessibility features, they can create a positive pivot point in the lives of youth with learning differences.
The IDRC is not only supporting inclusive design in the online tools and software these initiatives utilize, but is also actively sharing resources, ideas and frameworks that help activists and leaders understand the needs and potential of different learners. Its toolkit will be a far-reaching, open-source combination of online resources, websites, web code, exemplars, hubs and tools that will remove barriers to participation to youth social movements for youth who learn differently.
To see the work as it is happening and to join the project, visit the Social Justice Repair Kit wiki page
Featured Projects
FLOE
FLOE provides the resources needed to enable inclusive access to personally relevant, engaging learning opportunities for the full diversity of learners and content producers. Through the Open Education Resources community, FLOE makes tools available that transform, augment, and personalize the learning experience.
Inclusive Cities
Inclusive Cities - the IDRC is working with the Sidewalk Toronto team to help create accessibility and inclusion principles. Sidewalk Toronto is a joint effort between Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto to use smart technology and new construction techniques to develop a piece of land on Toronto’s eastern waterfront.
Automated Personalization Computer Project (APCP)
APCP (funded by Technology Innovation Program of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, U.S. Deptartment of Education) - In collaboration with the American Job Centers, community colleges, and high schools, the APCP project will help take the auto-personalization function of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) from the proof-of-concept stage through to a high-quality, broadly-used open source implementation. Led by the TRACE Center at the University of Maryland, the IDRC is contributing to the project’s overall software architecture, security and web personalization infrastructure, and individualized metrics-gathering tools.
Cloud4all
Cloud4all is an European Commission FP7 grant that will develop key parts of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII), building the knowledge base and algorithms needed and evaluating the ability of the concept to work across platforms, technologies and applications.